Flint’s biggest
Pentre Recreation Ground
Playing field
2.9 ha (7 acres)
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0DOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Flint · parks, paths & countryside
Flint is on the coast, on the Wales Coast Path
The sea makes up 20% of the area within 5 km. The Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape begins 4.2 mi from the town’s edge. 24 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.2 for every square kilometre. Flint grades D for the outdoors: #36 of 39 in Clwyd. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
56%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
24 km
1.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley starts 4.2 mi out, past the 5 km
The sea
20%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Flint?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast20% of the area within 5 km is sea; 1 beach mapped.Countryside close byThe Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape starts 4.2 mi west.On a National TrailThe Wales Coast Path passes through.Few mapped footpaths1.2 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Flint’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Flint grades D for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Flint, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
D
Better than 11% of UK towns#36 of 39 in Clwyd
Public green space1.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
13out of
100
100
A park within a walk56%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
17out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths1.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
11out of
100
100
The sea20%of the area within 5 km
89out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
How Flint compares with UK towns of 12,100 to 13,400
The 60 UK towns and cities of 12,100 to 13,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Flint1.2
Towns its size3.0
Clwyd towns2.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Flint1.0
Towns its size2.1
Clwyd towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Flint56%
Towns its size78%
Clwyd towns83%
All UK towns83%
Flint falls furthest behind on path per km², where 57 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitby North Yorkshire | A+ | 4 | 100% | 2.9 | 53% |
| 2 | Farncombe Surrey | A+ | 5.7 | 92% | 3.8 | 54% |
| 3 | Sidmouth Devon | A | 2.6 | 73% | 2.9 | 60% |
| 4 | Newhaven East Sussex | A | 1.9 | 84% | 2.9 | 50% |
| 5 | Rhosllannerchrugog Clwyd | A | 3.5 | 98% | 2.8 | 31% |
| 6 | Southwick West Sussex | A | 1.1 | 100% | 2.6 | 34% |
| 7 | Houghton-le-Spring Tyne and Wear | A | 4.8 | 100% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 8 | Killingworth Tyne and Wear | A | 4.7 | 97% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 9 | Little Lever Greater Manchester | A | 4.5 | 97% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 10 | Wick West Sussex | A | 1.3 | 91% | 3 | 25% |
| 11 | Blackwood Gwent | A− | 3.6 | 97% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 12 | Heckmondwike West Yorkshire | A− | 2.9 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 13 | Bridport Dorset | A− | 0.9 | 75% | 3.7 | 71% |
| 14 | Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green Buckinghamshire | A− | 1.7 | 90% | 3.9 | 30% |
| 15 | Guiseley West Yorkshire | A− | 2.5 | 75% | 5.7 | 6% |
| 16 | Wantage Oxfordshire | A− | 2.5 | 71% | 3.9 | 47% |
| 17 | Lees Greater Manchester | A− | 2.5 | 80% | 4.4 | 4% |
| 18 | Tavistock Devon | A− | 5.9 | 83% | 1.6 | 72% |
| 19 | Audenshaw Greater Manchester | B+ | 4.6 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 20 | Ivybridge Devon | B+ | 1.8 | 86% | 3.4 | 38% |
| 21 | Berwick-upon-Tweed Northumberland | B+ | 2.5 | 62% | 2.7 | 1% |
| 22 | Ringwood Hampshire | B+ | 2.3 | 78% | 3.2 | 43% |
| 23 | Chorleywood Hertfordshire | B+ | 2.7 | 37% | 5.7 | 22% |
| 24 | Poulton-le-Fylde Lancashire | B+ | 3.6 | 85% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 25 | Marple Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.4 | 64% | 3.8 | 5% |
| 26 | Poynton Cheshire | B+ | 2.2 | 79% | 3.7 | 14% |
| 27 | Royal Wootton Bassett Wiltshire | B+ | 1.6 | 98% | 3.1 | 10% |
| 28 | Cudworth and Shafton South Yorkshire | B | 3.1 | 88% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Stotfold Bedfordshire | B | 2.1 | 96% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 30 | Enderby and Narborough Leicestershire | B | 1.9 | 89% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 31 | West Kirby Merseyside | B | 1.9 | 68% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 32 | Rushall and Shelfield West Midlands | B | 4.3 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Scawthorpe and Cusworth South Yorkshire | B− | 3.1 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 34 | Standish Greater Manchester | B− | 2.6 | 84% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 35 | Chigwell Essex | B− | 2.9 | 64% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 36 | Sheerness Kent | B− | 3 | 68% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Ince-in-Makerfield Greater Manchester | B− | 2 | 74% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Rochford Essex | B− | 2 | 71% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 39 | Knutsford Cheshire | C+ | 2.6 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Thame Oxfordshire | C+ | 2.9 | 91% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 41 | Huntington North Yorkshire | C+ | 2 | 72% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Street Somerset | C+ | 0.7 | 96% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Todmorden West Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 72% | 6.8 | 0% |
| 44 | Hersham Surrey | C | 2.5 | 73% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Ferndown Dorset | C | 0.7 | 13% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Rhondda Mid Glamorgan | C− | 1.4 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Bridgnorth Shropshire | C− | 2.4 | 66% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Brough East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.4 | 74% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 49 | North Walsham Norfolk | C− | 1.3 | 69% | 2 | 10% |
| 50 | Porth Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.8 | 63% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe South Yorkshire | D | 2 | 75% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 52 | Amesbury Wiltshire | D | 1.8 | 73% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Northallerton North Yorkshire | D | 1.1 | 70% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Driffield East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 2.1 | 75% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Mountsorrel Leicestershire | D | 0.9 | 56% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Flint Clwyd | D | 1 | 56% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 57 | Mountain Ash Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.4 | 56% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Wombourne Staffordshire | D | 0.8 | 78% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Balderton Nottinghamshire | D | 1.4 | 64% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Thorne South Yorkshire | D− | 1.6 | 65% | 0.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Flint’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Flint
The biggest is Pentre Recreation Ground, 2.9 ha (7 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Maes y Blanhigfa
Play space
0.1 ha (0 acres)
0.4 mi south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
6 in 10 Flint residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (56%)Further (44%)
Flint56%
Towns its size78%
Clwyd towns83%
All UK towns83%
About 5,600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 19 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 672 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape is 4.2 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Landscape
Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley
4.2 mi west389 km²since 2011
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Flint scores 0% on it even though the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape is 4.2 mi away.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Flint is on the Wales Coast Path
24 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Flint and the kilometre around it, 1.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegional
Wales Coast Path (North Wales) main route11.4 km
Llwybr Clawdd Wat6.1 km
The Wales Coast Path, a national route, passes Flint. The regional route here is the Llwybr Clawdd Wat.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Flint: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 64 | 63 | 58 | 57 | 58 | 68 | 68 | 76 | 77 | 90 | 88 | 99 |
April is the driest month (57 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 99 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 33 nights a year. The climate in Flint →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Flint
20% of the area within 5 km of Flint is sea. 1 beach is mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
The Wales Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
19 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
NorthopPentre HalkynBagilltNorthop HallConnah's QuaySoughtonFlint
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flint | D | 1.0 | 56% | 0% |
| Northop 2.4 mi | D | 1.6 | 70% | 0% |
| Pentre Halkyn 2.7 mi | B | 1.3 | 59% | 3% |
| Bagillt 3.2 mi | C+ | 1.3 | 87% | 0% |
| Northop Hall 3.4 mi | B | 2.6 | 100% | 0% |
| Connah's Quay 3.5 mi | A | 5.8 | 97% | 0% |
| Soughton 3.8 mi | D | 0.4 | 67% | 3% |
Connah's Quay, 3.5 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 97% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Northop Hall and Connah's Quay have at least twice Flint’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Flint
What is the biggest park in Flint?
Pentre Recreation Ground, 2.9 ha (7 acres). Maes y Blanhigfa (0.1 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Flint near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape, 4.2 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 389 km² and was designated in 2011.
What are the best walks near Flint?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Wales Coast Path (North Wales) main route and Llwybr Clawdd Wat.
How many people in Flint live near a park?
56% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Flint?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Flint good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 11% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 13% (1.0 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Flint’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Flint’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.